The Shadow of Great Britain

The morning air in Paris still carried the stifling heat of midsummer.

Outside the window, the rumble of carriage wheels and the cries of street vendors on Saint Honore Street intertwined into a single clamor.

Arthur, wrapped in his dressing gown and holding a cup of black tea, sat at his desk; spread out before him was the freshly delivered Constitutional Newspaper.

”The Constitutional Crisis of the Kingdom of Hanover”

Since mid‑June, the political situation in the Kingdom of Hanover had undergone sudden upheaval.

With the death of King William IV, his niece Victoria acceded to the throne, while the Crown of Hanover, in accordance with the Salic Law, was placed upon the head of the Duke of Cumberland, Ernst August. From that moment, the thrones of Britain and Hanover diverged, and the relationship of Personal Union between Hanover and Britain came to an end.

Hanover welcomed a new Monarch, and this throne, which ought to have been firmly grounded in legality, had, through a few maneuvers by King Ernst August, been rendered precarious.

Almost at the very moment of his accession on July 5, His Majesty immediately announced the suspension of the constitution.

He refused to acknowledge the validity of the 1833 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover, declaring that he was not bound by the existing constitution, since his views had not been solicited when this constitution was originally drafted. At the same time, he hinted that, had Hanover been under his governance at the time, this constitution might have taken a very different form, or might not have existed at all. He is currently considering a renewed examination of the constitutional provisions; his aim and ambition, he says, is to introduce such necessary amendments to the existing constitution as will bring it into conformity with his own principles and expectations of government.

At the very moment when the basic law ought to have been confirmed and the hard‑won liberties of Hanoverian subjects secured, the new King chose instead to style himself as a defier of modern justice, turning back to revive a long‑decayed absolutist system. The University of Gottingen, that sanctuary of Hanoverian philosophy and conscience, has been shaken by this threat.

According to reports from media in Dusseldorf, Hanover, and Berlin, several Professors at the University of Gottingen have privately voiced their disquiet. They fear that if the new King refuses to recognize the constitution, he may weaken the legislative body, thereby undermining academic freedom and the independence of officials. The reports note that Friedrich Dalman, historian and Representative of the University of Gottingen in the Parliament, is seeking to contact his colleagues, attempting to persuade the Professors of the Gottingen University senate to oppose the King’s intention to revise the constitution, and to adopt some form of necessary action.

Liberal opinion across the various states of the German Confederation is likewise on the alert. Some argue that if a King can lightly cast aside a basic law he has already sworn to uphold, then what are charters and oaths but empty scraps of paper?

And for the liberals of Europe, if the precedent set in Hanover is allowed to stand, what other constitutional state on the European Continent can still feel secure? What is a charter then? What is an oath? If the abolition of a constitution by a King is as effortless as tearing up a discarded draft, then today it is Hanover; tomorrow, it may be somewhere else.

...

Arthur took a sip of black tea; too little sugar had been added today, and it tasted somewhat bitter.

Aside from being surprised by the taste of the tea, however, Arthur felt nothing else this morning that might be called unexpected.

The Duke of Cumberland’s refusal, upon his accession, to recognize the 1833 constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover fell entirely within his expectations.

For as early as the time when the Duke of Cumberland was still only the presumed heir to the Hanoverian throne, he had already expressed to his brother King William IV, in the strongest terms, his opposition to the formal coming into force of this liberal constitution. With such political views, it was only natural that the great majority of both the Whig Party and the Tory Party disliked him.

One could even say that a considerable part of the enthusiasm shown by the British public for Queen Victoria’s accession stemmed not so much from any particular acquaintance with the Queen’s virtues, as from their intense fear of the Duke of Cumberland’s aura of absolutism.

In fact, before the Duke of Cumberland’s accession, the Hanoverians themselves had tried to circumvent the law of succession and choose a more beloved King.

Of course, they would still not accept a Queen, but if possible they would much rather have seen the Duke of Cambridge, a former Governor of Hanover, or the Duke of Sussex ascend the throne. The ideas of these two Princes were highly consonant with those of this state of the German Confederation that most strongly breathed the spirit of Liberalism; and judging from their various records, had either of the two Princes succeeded, they would certainly have been eager to continue advancing liberal reforms in the Kingdom of Hanover.

Regrettably, however, neither the Duke of Cambridge nor the Duke of Sussex was willing to take part in any action that might circumvent their elder brother the Duke of Cumberland and place the crown upon their own heads.

Thus the Hanoverians could only watch, powerless, as the Duke of Cumberland was crowned Ernst I of the Kingdom of Hanover and dissolved the Parliament that had been convened in accordance with the constitution.

As a foreign official, Arthur of course could not conveniently express views on the politics of the Kingdom of Hanover.

At most, he could only express regret over the suspension of the 1833 constitution, for, however one might look at it, both the police‑related supplementary regulations to that constitution and the memoranda of the drafting committee bore the imprint of his labor.

Now that Ernst I had scarcely taken the throne and was already making alterations to the shining record of Arthur’s career, it was impossible that he should feel no resentment at all.

Still, anger aside, there was in truth very little Arthur could do about this King.

One of the principal significances of the 1833 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover had been to transfer the Hanoverian territories from the person of the Monarch to the collective entity of the state.